


no one is alone

by lilyvalley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Post-War, Second War with Voldemort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2014-12-29
Packaged: 2018-03-04 06:19:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2955428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyvalley/pseuds/lilyvalley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the war, the owls bring Druella news of death, but perhaps something else, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	no one is alone

She is old and alone - save for the last surviving house-elf, Misty, who helps her keep the house in some kind of condition. There is no need for her to do so, really, not when she has been the only one living here for years, but it is a small comfort and a way to occupy her time. A way to keep her from going insane. It is all she has these days - now that she is old, she can no longer rely on her beauty to give her some kind of comfort.

Loneliness is something she thought she had always felt, but it was not a prospect she was truly prepared for. Being widowed was, admittedly, a prospect she welcomed - Cygnus had never been a kind or good husband - but being abandoned by her children, less so. Of course she had been all too happy to marry off Bellatrix and Narcissa, but the days were too long for one person to deal with alone. Bellatrix, of course, had never come for visits - at first because she did not want to, but later because she couldn't - and Narcissa's visits had grown sparer with time, probably because Draco grew too old to be spoiled by his grandmother. Not to mention the Dark Lord had practically imprisoned her daughter and son-in-law in their own home - old as she may be, she is not blind.

They never bothered with her during the second war because there was nothing to bother with. Cygnus had been worth something to them because Cygnus had wanted to be, but he had died during the first war and after that, it was her son-in-laws and eldest daughter that became worth something. No one cared about an aging matriarch who hadn't done proper magic in years. The upside of their apathy was that no one cared about using her house, either, which was fine by her. It was Number 12 they wanted - Walburga's mansion, but it had passed to her disowned son - not hers. They used the Malfoy estate and she assumed the houses of other Death Eaters, but there was no use for her or her house. As a widow, Druella Black means nothing to anyone but, perhaps, her daughter. There was no information for her to give. There was no reason to bother her.

When the owl comes to tell her about Bellatrix's death, however, something stirs within her. Bellatrix has not been her daughter for years and yet, she still is, and hours pass before the tears completely stop. She cries for Bellatrix, yes, but she also cries for failing her, for losing her, for letting Cygnus turn her into a monster worse than Walburga. She cries because even if she lost her daughter a long time ago, a part of her old heart always thought that if the war ended, whenever the war ended, there might have still been hope, and now that hope is gone. She cries because no matter what she has told herself before, this is the first time she has lost a daughter forever.

Misty apparates to her side when she is done. They have been together long enough for the elf to know that she needed time alone to properly grieve and mourn. She glances at Misty with barely dry eyes and sees that the elf has something she needs to tell her. She stiffens, expecting more bad news - she does not think she will be able to handle it.

"Mistress Druella" - at her request, she has not been called Mistress Black in years - "there is something you must know."

"Please..." she whispers. "Don't tell me if I cannot bear it."

"You can, Mistress Druella. It is not the news you are dreading it is."

She frowns. She knows from Misty's face that the news is bad, but she trusts her elf's judgment on her ability to handle it. "Go on, then."

"Your granddaughter and her werewolf husband. They are dead."

Misty is right - this news is bad but it is not something that will break her. She has never known her granddaughter, only heard about her, and while it saddens her to hear of her death, these are news she can bear.

But as a mother, she knows the devastating effects such news will have. "Take me to her," she commands.

"Mistress Druella -" Misty protests, confused.

But she is insistent. "That was an order, Misty."

With a pop, they apparate to a quiet suburb, a few feet away from a house that can only be best described as quaint. She supposes there is a sort of charm to it, and she does not doubt that ordinarily, the house's occupants are happy here. 

Then she remembers why she is here. Even though she is seventy-one years old, she is frozen with fear. Too many what ifs are running through her head - she has thought about this moment for many years. She should have done this years ago and is ashamed of herself that she can only find the courage to come now. She is -

Misty pushes her forward before she becomes so overwhelmed by doubts that she flees back home, and she glances back at the elf to thank her, only to see Misty disapparate. With a deep breath, she shuffles the remaining few feet to the front door and knocks.

It is a few moments before she hears footsteps and she takes those seconds to brace herself, as she is unsure what to expect. The door opens, and she sucks in a breath as she sees Andromeda for the first time in over twenty years.

"Mum?"


End file.
